Name Index

To

Uncle Tom Cobley

Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries Vol. 11:1, (1920) pp.7-9.

by

J.F. Chanter

Prepared by Michael Steer

Whether Tom Cobley, or the other characters from the Widecombe Fair song ever existed is uncertain. Local historians have attempted to trace them in and around Dartmoor. There is some suggestion that his relatives have been traced to a family which had moved to Plymouth in the early 1900s, but that are no longer called Cobley. The strongest claim is held by the village of Spreyton, to the north of the moor, whose churchyard contains the grave of a Tom Cobley, buried 11 January 1844. However this is said to be the grave of the nephew of the 'real' Tom Cobley, who died in 1794 and whose grave is unmarked. Google with the Archive Organization has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. The Internet Archive makes available, in its Community Texts Collection (originally known as Open Source Books), books that have been digitised by Google from a number of libraries. These are books on which copyright has expired, and are available free for educational and research use. This rare book was produced from a copy held by the New York Public Library, and is available from the Internet Archive.